Quantcast

Rikuoh

陸王 ‧ Drama ‧ 2017
Completed
YueofBlueGables
24 people found this review helpful
Feb 23, 2018
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10
Five seconds into the first episode and I was "this is my favorite 2017 drama". Not because of the setting, not because of some cute  actor... no, the first line had already hooked me. Never happened to me before. I wish I was more eloquent in English, to describe how much I love this drama. Every second of it.

For people who want eye-candy, there is the Shoujo Prince and two Tokusatsu heroes... but their pretty faces can't beat the talent of the veteran actor Yakusho Koji.  His gentle smile, his determination to achieve his goals, his  tears of frustration, of happiness. President Miyazawa, who loved his little company, his employees... always wearing his blue hanten. This man impressed me so much I was constantly posting about him.

Short version of my review: this drama reminded a lot of the anime "Haikyuu", in spirit.

Real rating: 100/10... thank you to yamazaki-kento dot com for subbing this amazing drama <3

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
The Butterfly
6 people found this review helpful
Apr 13, 2025
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 7.5

"Some lies come true"

Rikuoh told the story of a struggling tabi maker whose company had been in business for 100 years. As other tabi factories succumbed to the fading need for the traditional white socks, Miyazawa Koichi would risk nearly everything to guide his family’s company in a new direction in order to keep it afloat and relevant in a changing and challenging market.

Miyazawa Koichi fears his family’s tabi factory will not last another decade. When a young bank officer tells him to expand into something different, he chooses to make running shoes patterned after the ancient style socks. The runner that inspired him is Mogi Hiroto who was injured from his poor form and would benefit from shoes that guide his foot into a more proper stride. From there, Miyazawa will have to convince family, friends, workers, bankers, and suppliers in his dream. Miyazawa must rely on his super strengths of tenacity and resiliency for his company to survive.

Rikuoh was completely predictable in every way. It benefited from the veteran actor, Yakusho Koji, to keep the cheesier moments grounded in reality. While there were no surprises, there didn’t need to be. This was pure comfort viewing. There were moments of conflict and setbacks, but I never doubted for a moment that Team Dragonfly would be okay and that allowed me to sit back and watch as the scrappy seamstresses and engineers made their magic happen.

If you need your business dramas to make logical sense, this may not be the drama for you. There were obvious lapses in the business narrative that the viewer is expected to overlook or fill in the gaps. Some were larger than others. (What business doesn’t carry insurance?) The women were secondary, mainly represented by the seamstresses. The banks and multiple businesses contacted were completely void of women. Miyazawa’s wife and daughter appeared to be for décor, or for the wife to say in any given situation, “That’s nice, dear.”

Overall, the drama kept my attention with its languid interlaced approach to storytelling splitting time between the scrappy Team Dragonfly, Mogi’s journey and running team, and the shoe competition. Everyone learned valuable life lessons, even a few of those characters who were originally antagonists. On the race track or in the factory, there were no shortages of inspirational speeches and tearful cheering. Miyazawa and Team Dragonfly helped their company overcome numerous obstacles and setbacks. Just like the determined runner Mogi, they all had to repeatedly get back up and dust themselves off, hug it out and start over as many times as were necessary.

12 April 2025

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
arashinta
0 people found this review helpful
Nov 23, 2019
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 7.0
[WARNING: the rating and review I give have the possibility to be subjective due to my preference for the genres, scenes or casts]

I watched this first for Yamaken and Ryoma, but it turns out that they're not the lead actors or the lead plot. Well, they did took the important part, but not the prime important part (what did I blabbered about? XD). Miyazawa Koichi's face is slightly similar to my big boss at the office, I've got shock while watch the first episode (^o^) The pace is a little bit slow and the topic is quite serious, maybe some of you will find it a little bit boring ... well, sometimes me too XD

As for the story, this drama will give you the new perspective of "not give up". In this movie, you will see how the people at Kohazeya and even Mogi to not giving up on their dreams even though they must face a lot of obstacles or a lot of negative behavior from other people (and from the own son). But as Miyazawa said, "The time when you truly lost is when you give up on a fight." and that sentence is right, you'll get a miracle if you don't give up.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
PHope
0 people found this review helpful
Jul 29, 2018
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 4.0
Story 5.5
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 3.0
Rewatch Value 3.5
Rikuo is about a family run company which makes shoes and their struggles to make running shoes. The story is okay, with the family dynamics, especially the son - father relationship. Also, the struggles of the company and the athlete to make his come back and ran the marathon are kind of interesting, though they get tiring after a while. The drama overall is boring and tiring. It took me a bit of an efford to watch, as the twists and the plot itself weren't original and there wasn't much to be expected. The performances, finally, were nice. So, 4 out of 10.
Was this review helpful to you?
Rikuoh poster

Details

Statistics

  • Score: 8.1 (scored by 748 users)
  • Ranked: #2156
  • Popularity: #7069
  • Watchers: 2,243

Top Contributors

18 edits
15 edits
14 edits
11 edits

Popular Lists

Related lists from users
2017 Japanese Dramas
112 titles 49 loves
Japan Drama PTW
110 titles 9 loves
J-Drama Year #2017
57 titles 5 loves

Recently Watched By